OUP - Abstract

An Evaluation of Municipal Effort to Provide Low-Income Housing

Dissertation School: University of Wisconsin

Abstract:

My dissertation will examine the effects of California's Housing Element law on low-income housing production. California evaluates the law by annually enumerating the municipalities that maintain compliant housing elements. Yet, no agency can quantitatively state how the law has affected low-income housing inventory; my dissertation responds to this need.

My analysis should interest the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for four reasons. First, the Housing Element law is objectively explicit in the preservation and rehabilitation of federally assisted housing. Second, the law specifies housing allocations that are stratified by HUD's AMI. Third, if low-income housing inventory does not increase in proportion to total housing inventory, then over time, the housing opportunities for low-income households will be constrained or eliminated. Finally, under diminishing inventories, low-income households may face negative conditions such as overpayment, overcrowding, longer commutes, and fewer educational opportunities.

I am requesting a fellowship because my dissertation supports HUD's goals of “Meeting the Needs of Quality and Affordable Rentals” and “Building Inclusive Communities” by examining municipal effort. Since many municipalities claim to be ‘built-out,’ the law requires them to meet regional needs by increasing their residential densities. Therefore, if quality and inclusive multi-family housing is a goal, then without proper zoning and clear rules, no new units will be built. This dissertation also augments academic discourse on regionalism (Basolo, 2003; Jonas & Pincetl, 2006; Wolcott, 1945), governance (Bollens, 1997; Vogel & Nezelkewicz, 2002), housing policy (Kleit & Page, 2008; Mueller & Schwartz, 2008), and urban planning (Dalton & Burby, 1994; Mogulof, 1971).

To ground my focus, I ask: a) how has a municipality’s low-income housing inventory changed over time; b) what is the relationship between municipal conditions and the municipality's low-income housing inventory; and c) what is the relationship between municipal conditions and the municipality's annual housing production? The answers should indicate whether the law has had any effects, or if changes in low-income housing inventory is (or should be) associated with municipal conditions, such as housing demand, growth, political will, existing housing supply, or subsidy. I expect that as a municipality's per capita income and commercial growth increases, the inventory of low-income housing falls. I also expect that market-rate housing will be double or triple the housing allocation. If these expectations are confirmed, then this would suggest that loopholes allow municipalities to protect exclusion and shift the provision of low-income housing to regional, state, and federal agencies. This dissertation employs a quasi-experimental longitudinal research design that uses annual waves of data beginning in 1980 and ending in 2007. This 28-year time period contains a 15-year treatment period (1990-2005). Because the law affected all municipalities statewide, I shall employ a purposive sampling frame to examine 19 Northern California and 31 Southern California municipalities as treatment groups. The dominant central city for each region (for example, Sacramento, Los Angeles) will serve as a comparison group. My purposive rationale is not only informed by Foucault and Tobler, but also Veazey, who stated that “housing for all economic levels of society is a regional issue which all jurisdictions should be involved in addressing,” as regional benefits do not stop at municipal borders (1977; 1970; 2008, p. 73). This research design supports the mixed method analysis (e.g. content analysis, regression) of spatially clustered samples in which I examine north/south, urban/rural/suburban, and municipality/central city distinctions (Creswell, 2009; Elo & Kyngas, 2008; Singer & Willett, 2003).

To my knowledge, exploratory research under these conditions has not been conducted before. Connerly and Mueller, Hoch, and Lewis previously conducted housing element analysis, but their research did not determine whether a statewide mandate constructed new low-income housing (1993; 2007; 2005).

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